airball

Definition

A shot that misses the backboard, rim and net entirely.

Etymology

* From air + ball. * The first recorded use of the "airball" chant was on February 24, 1979, during a college basketball game between the Duke University Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels after the Tar Heels' Rich Yonakor took a shot which missed the rim.

Example Sentences

• "As soon as the shot left his hands, the spectators could see it was going to be an airball."
• "Johnson also could have tied the game, at 66-66 with 14 seconds left. But his jump shot was an airball. From that scramble Lopez emerged with the first of his key foul shots."
• "Bryant’s path to becoming a champion, after all, began with a series of infamous misses: his playoff airballs as a rookie against Utah. Clarkson sees those airballs as a metaphor for Bryant’s clunky start against the Jazz two decades later."